Carly Rae Jepsen and Tori Kelly each move up one spot in an otherwise-unchanged top ten, led once again by Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance.” The week’s biggest movers include Alabama Shakes’s “Sound & Color,” Bleachers’s “Like A River Runs,” R5’s “Let’s Not Be Alone Tonight,” and Adam Lambert’s “Ghost Town,” each moving at least 15 places upward. Tori Kelly also lands the greatest debut on the chart with the title track of upcoming album Unbreakable Smile, ahead of debuts from Clean Bandit, Alabama Shakes, and newcomers Good Old War.
Walk The Moon
Walk The Moon holds the top spot over a fairly quiet top twenty, punctuated by jumps from The Script and The Veronicas at its bottom end. There’s plenty of activity further down on the chart, however, led by top-fifty debuts from Lianne La Havas, Wet, and Jarryd James. R5 also scores the week’s biggest mover by jumping 74-48 with “Let’s Not Be Alone Tonight.” Additional debuts in the second half of the chart include newcomers Young Brother and firekid, as well as new entries by Alabama Shakes, Bleachers, and Passenger.
Walk The Moon makes it a dozen weeks at the top with “Shut Up And Dance” continuing its reign. The top ten is mostly unchanged, impacted mainly by Carly Rae Jepsen’s jump to the top five with “I Really Like You.” Cheerleader’s “The Sunshine Of Your Youth” is the week’s biggest mover, leaping 32 positions to #35 in its fourth week on the chart. Just below, Chris Stapleton enters with the highest debut, “Traveller,” at #36. Josh Groban and Kelly Clarkson also make a debut in the chart’s upper half as their cover of The Phantom Of The Opera track “All I Ask Of You” reaches #50. Nine more debuts are led by Erik Hassle, another track from Handsome Ghost’s Steps EP, and two new tracks from the upcoming release of Alabama Shakes’ sophomore album, Sound & Color.
Walk The Moon holds for an eleventh week at the top spot, with Alabama Shakes newly nipping at their heels as “Don’t Wanna Fight” leapfrogs “Gimme All Your Love” to reach a new peak of #2. In only her fifth week on the chart, Rachel Platten enters the the top ten with “Fight Song,” which jumps 13-10. Four songs tie for the week’s greatest gain with 30-spot jumps for Carly Rae Jepsen’s “All That” (#17), Brandon Flowers’s “Can’t Deny My Love” (#46), and Delta Rae’s “You’re The One For Me” (#59) and “My Whole Life Long” (#63). Hilary Duff scores the top debut with “Sparks,” the third song to be released in advance of a comeback album with RCA Records. Additional debuts include a pair each from Hollywood Records (R5 and newly-solo Grace Potter) and Interscope (X Ambassadors and Ryn Weaver), as well as the final pair of tracks yet to chart from Delta Rae’s album After It All.
Walk The Moon scores a ninth week at #1 with the top ten mostly unchanged, save a move into the top five by Nate Ruess and a #10 entry for Morgan Page and Lissie. Rachel Platten makes another big jump, up 27 to #13 in her third week on with “Fight Song.” Once again, Sam Hunt, Olly Murs featuring Demi Lovato, and The Veronicas make double-digit jumps, as do Martin Luke Brown’s “Take Out Of Me” and Greg Holden’s “Hold On Tight.” The biggest chart entry this week is a re-entry, as CAFUNÉ’s debut single “Letting Go” returns at #83 after last charting at #99 at the beginning of February. Florence + The Machine lands another debut from upcoming album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, but the rest of the debuts are all from artists appearing for the first time: Years & Years, Handsome Ghost, Brandon Flowers, The Bros. Landreth, and Cheerleader.
While many people flocked south to Austin, Texas last week for this year’s South By Southwest festival, which showcases more than two thousand artist performances alongside label presentations, technology reveals, and discussion panels, some of us had to settle for attending Couch By Couchwest from home. I spent the past week digging through a spreadsheet of 2,121 artists who were slated to play during SXSW 2015, and after whittling down the list and listening to 622 of them, I have selected 76 independent acts that warrant further attention now that the festivities have ended. Read a short blurb on each artist below along with a prime track among their discography, or skip ahead to the full playlist on SoundCloud by clicking here. Continue reading “76 independent artists to watch following SXSW 2015”
Though Walk The Moon scores a third week on top with “Shut Up And Dance,” Ellie Goulding creeps ever closer as “Love Me Like You Do” is now a single spot away. Alabama Shakes enter at #3 with “Don’t Wanna Fight,” the lead single from upcoming sophomore album Sound & Color; another cut, “Future People,” debuts at #73.
Christina Perri continues to edge forward with “The Words,” which reaches #13 in its fifteenth week on the chart. It has moved up on each of the fifteen charts on which it has appeared, beginning from its #97 debut back in early November.
Florence + The Machine scores the second-highest debut at #27 with “What Kind Of Man,” the lead single from their upcoming third album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. After two weeks off, Zac Brown Band returns with a brand-new peak for “Homegrown,” re-entering at #68. Along with the aforementioned trio of debuts, eight more entries include new tracks from Tor Miller and Youth Club, as well as newcomers Lucie Silvas, Charlie Puth (featuring Meghan Trainor), and James Bay.
Walk The Moon notches a second week at #1 with “Shut Up And Dance,” while Ellie Goulding moves into the top three with “Love Me Like You Do.” Two songs also enter the top ten: Taylor Swift’s “Style” moves 11-5 and Tori Kelly’s “Nobody Love” climbs 25-9 in its second week. Fancy makes a big thirty-position jump to #23 with “Goodbye,” dwarfed only by Max Frost’s jump of 34 positions as “Let Me Down Easy” leaps to #60. Emily Hearn makes the week’s highest debut, with “Volcano” exploding in at #36. Additional new entrants are Imagine Dragons, COIN, Tor Miller, Leon Bridges, Youth Club, and Mikky Ekko.
After a fourteen-week run at the top, Martin Luke Brown slips out of the pole position as Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance” ascends to #1 in its 21st week on the chart. The rest of the top ten gets a slight shake-up as well, with Walk The Moon’s “Aquaman” also moving into the top three, Ellie Goulding continuing her upward momentum as “Love Me Like You Do” goes from #6 to #4, and Carrie Underwood’s newly-announced single “Little Toy Guns” moving 12-10. Tori Kelly scores the week’s highest debut, with new single “Nobody Love” entering at a lofty #25. Toward the bottom of the chart, XOV, Max Frost, and Sam Smith re-enter the chart, while new songs come in from Train, Coasts, Justin Mauriello, and Lee Ann Womack.
Though the top four positions on the chart are unchanged, Walk The Moon scores a second spot in the top five as “Aquaman” leaps from 8 to 5. Meanwhile, Montaigne scores her second top twenty hit with “Pontius Of The Past” moving 22-20. With the music industry revived in the new year, new music begins entering the chart, led by Ellie Goulding’s new Fifty Shades Of Grey soundtrack song, “Love Me Like You Do,” launching at #36. Taylor Swift’s newest 1989 single, “Style,” begins at #42, immediately matching the peak of album cut “Out Of The Woods.” Also in the top fifty is newcomer Bea Miller, whose “Fire N Gold” enters right at #50. Additional debuts come from new artist Fancy and new singles for Echosmith, Madonna, and Sia, while Jason French, Ryn Weaver, and Maroon 5 all make re-entries.